Lily nuzzles one of her cubs We talked to our partner Verizon today, which made us think about how the equipment and picture has improved over the years. The first year (2010), it seemed like we had to go to Lily’s den a lot. The second year (2011), there was a 56-day stretch with no visits despite Hope licking the lens frequently before and after that period, as we recall. Last year (2012), Lily got hardly any visits once the camera was in place. Her deep rock den allowed us to mount the camera up and away from Lily and Faith, so there was no licked lens to clean.
Cubs watch Lily eat snowThis year, Lily has shown more interest in icicles hanging in front of the camera than the camera itself. We made no visits from December 30 to February 11 and no visits since February 12 except to photograph the den from a distance with Verizon on February 25.
Cubs nose to noseFor the first time, we’ve gotten to see Lily’s reaction to strangers visiting her den. On February 23, two people approached very close to her den—close enough to attempt to peer in with a flashlight. Lily kept raising her head to look in their direction but didn’t seem overly concerned. Once the cubs began vocalizing, the visitors quieted their voices and soon left. A week later, a community member came with a youngster. They came close enough for the microphone to pick up their voices, but not close enough to elicit a reaction from Lily. They returned the following day as well and again stayed respectfully back from the den. Again, we saw no reaction from Lily.
Mother and daughterWatching her lack of reaction to people, we couldn’t help but remember her frantic reactions and blustery behavior March 28, 2011 the night a moose browsed within 22 yards of her den (see update http://www.bearstudy.org/website/updates/daily-updates/1233-crisis-at-midnight-.html). These past four years have added so much to our knowledge of the least studied half of black bears’ lives. Our goal is to continue to increase the sample size of dens, comparing Lily’s behavior with her past years and comparing her with Jewel or other bears, if possible.
When will Mom wake up?The situation at Jewel’s den has been similar to Lily’s—unexpected visitors to the den and voices nearby. However, actual disturbance to the bears has been minimal.
We are also learning surprising information over the years from Ted, Lucky, and Honey. We could hardly believe it when Honey, who had chased yearling Lucky all summer, invited him to spend the winter of 2008-9 with her and even played with him during a brief spring break outside the den. Their playful liaison didn’t last, though, as most of you know.
Mom? Mom? MOM!A 2-part video of Lily and her cubs is posted at http://www.youtube.com/
In addition to the den behavior paper for the International Bear Conference, we’re joining Steve Stringham and Else Poulsen in a presentation on bear body language and human safety.
Psst...we did it! She's awake!We appreciate the good words we have been getting from some of you lately. We’re also reading heart-warming accounts of how the Den Cams and bear information is being used in classrooms. Today, we heard about a grade-schooler who used her birthday party to encourage her students to write letters to help captive bears in North Carolina.
Jim Stroner’s picture of Lily is in the finals of the ScienceFriday Winter Nature Photo Contest. Voting is at http://tinyurl.com/bhj5v3h and Jim's photo is #11. Voting ends Friday March 15. You can vote only once, so pass the link on to family and friends!
Thank you teachers and students and all Lily Fans for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All pictures were taken today unless otherwise noted.